Prius not always storing coolant

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by nidocamen, Dec 8, 2005.

  1. nidocamen

    nidocamen New Member

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    My 05 prius, which I got last year, does not always seem to store the hot coolant after shutting off. I'd say it does it about 70% of the time and then the rest it just shuts down and that's it. It would seem that it doesn't 'decide' when to do it because I just got off a 20 minute drive and it is quite cold outside and you would think it would 'want' to store the coolant for when I start it up tomorrow morning. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Please let me know.

    I am probably going to take it in and see what they can find, but I'll have to remove my custom mods from coastal-e-tech or they'll probably say my warranty is void....... :(

    Thanks,

    --Joe
     
    #1 nidocamen, Dec 8, 2005
  2. jwe8f

    jwe8f New Member

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    Are you waiting at least 90 seconds after you shut down to hear the transfer?
     
    #2 jwe8f, Dec 8, 2005
  3. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    Nope, it doesn't always store. Depends on the relative temp between
    the engine and the bottle. If what's in the bottle is already hot
    enough, then there's no reason to pump -- and it's easy for the
    ICE to become *cooler* than the bottle contents as you're motoring
    your last bits of track to home with the cabin heat running.
    All depends on how long you've been running, for the most part.
    .
    For instance, after a long highway run, the water valve has opened
    up to push coolant path all the way through the engine *and* bottle.
    If you shut down shortly thereafter, there's no reason to save the
    stuff from the engine.
    .
    Alternatively, on a relatively short run, the ICE is hotter than the
    bottle and storage happens. It's amusing to watch the temp gauge
    go *down* as this happens, because it's clear that *colder* coolant
    from the bottle is being sent to the engine to replace what's there.
    .
    The logic of all this is generally explained in the NCF...
    .
    _H*
     
    #3 hobbit, Dec 8, 2005
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